Definition and Categorization of Plastic Surgery
- Plastic surgery involves restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body.
- It can be categorized into reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery.
- Reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and burn treatment.
- Cosmetic surgery aims to improve the appearance of the body.
- Plastic surgery overlaps with other surgical specialties.
History and Contributions in Plastic Surgery
- The word 'plastic' comes from the Greek word 'plastikē tekhnē,' meaning the art of modeling malleable flesh.
- The term 'plastic surgery' has been used since 1598.
- Treatments for plastic repair of a broken nose were mentioned in the c.1600 BC Egyptian medical text called the Edwin Smith papyrus.
- Al-Zahrawi, an Arab physician, surgeon, and chemist, is considered the 'Father of Surgery' and the first plastic surgeon.
- British surgeon Joseph Constantine Carpue observed Indian rhinoplasty techniques and performed the first major surgery in the Western world in 1815.
- German surgeon Carl Ferdinand von Graefe and American surgeon John Peter Mettauer made advancements in nose reconstruction and cleft palate operation, respectively.
- Sir Harold Gillies is considered the father of modern plastic surgery and developed many techniques of modern facial surgery during World War I.
- Jacques Joseph made significant contributions to the field of plastic surgery with his publication in 1928.
Sub-specialties of Plastic Surgery
- Aesthetic surgery: Includes facial and body aesthetic surgery and uses cosmetic surgical principles in reconstructive procedures.
- Burn surgery: Divided into acute burn surgery performed immediately after a burn and reconstructive burn surgery done after the burn wounds have healed.
- Craniofacial surgery: Divided into pediatric and adult craniofacial surgery, focusing on congenital anomalies and reconstructive surgeries after trauma or cancer.
- Ethnic plastic surgery: Aims to change ethnic attributes and alter specific ethnic features.
- Hand surgery: Deals with acute injuries, chronic diseases, and congenital malformations of the hand and wrist.
- Microsurgery: Concerned with reconstructing missing tissues through transferring tissue and reconnecting blood vessels.
- Pediatric plastic surgery: Specializes in treating medical conditions in children.
- Prison plastic surgery: Plastic surgery performed on the incarcerated population to affect recidivism rate.
Techniques and Procedures in Plastic Surgery
- Skin grafting is a common procedure, using autografts from the recipient, allografts from a donor of the same species, or xenografts from a different species.
- Emphasizes careful planning of incisions, appropriate wound closure, and the use of the best available suture materials.
- Reconstructive surgery corrects functional impairments caused by burns, traumatic injuries, congenital abnormalities, infection and disease, and cancer or tumors.
- Common procedures include tumor removal, laceration repair, maxillofacial surgery, scar revision, hand surgery, and breast reduction plasty.
- Breast procedures include reduction mammoplasty, mastopexy, augmentation mastopexy, breast implants, and simultaneous augmentation mastopexy.
- Body procedures include buttock augmentation, cryolipolysis, calf augmentation, liposuction, and body contouring.
- Facial procedures include rhinoplasty, otoplasty, rhytidectomy, browplasty, and cheek augmentation.
- Other cosmetic procedures include genioplasty, orthognathic surgery, dermal fillers, laser skin rejuvenation, and sclerotherapy.
Psychological Aspects and Risks of Plastic Surgery
- Plastic surgery obsession can be linked to psychological disorders like body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).
- BDD is a disorder where individuals become preoccupied with perceived defects in their bodies or faces.
- 15% of patients seeing cosmetic surgeons have BDD, and half of them are not satisfied with the outcomes.
- Common complications of cosmetic surgery include hematoma, infection, scarring, and implant failure.
- FDA reports that one in five patients who received breast implants will need them removed within 10 years.
Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery aims at improving the appearance of it. Comprehensive definition of plastic surgery has never been established, because it has no distinct anatomical object and thus overlaps with practically all other surgical specialties. An essential feature of plastic surgery is that it involves treatment of conditions that require or may require tissue relocation skills.
 Engraving from De Curtorum Chirurgia per Insitionem "(On the Surgery of Mutilation by Grafting)" (1597) by Gaspare Tagliacozzi | |
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Occupation type | Specialty |
Activity sectors | Medicine, surgery |
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Fields of employment | Hospitals, clinics |
plastic surgery (countable and uncountable, plural plastic surgeries)
Formally, plastic surgery includes some types of reconstructive surgery and hand surgery, but in common use is it generally used to mean cosmetic surgery, with some pejorative connotations due to associations of
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